2023-09-21 18:33:00
Canada and India relations continue to strain after the death of leader sij Hardeep Singh Nijjar. From Ottawa they anticipated a temporary adjustment in the number of diplomatic personnel in India. In New Delhi, and then asking its citizens to “be careful” when traveling to the northern country, they decided to directly cancel the visa to enter that country. Both countries are strategic partners in security and trade.
The Indian authorities reported this Thursday, September 21, the suspension of the issuance of visas to Canadian citizens. The decision came amidst tension between the two countries due to the controversy surrounding the death of Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who had a Canadian passport and was murdered in June in British Columbia (Canada). “Due to operational reasons, Indian visa services have been suspended until further notice,” the company in charge of issuing Indian applications said in a brief statement.
In response to that decision, Canadian authorities anticipated reducing the number of diplomats in India due to “security issues.” It was after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that Indian authorities were behind the assassination of the independence leader.
“In view of the current development of relations and the increase in tension, the decision has been made to guarantee the safety of our diplomats,” said Canadian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Pierre Godbout, according to the National Post newspaper.
“Exercising caution, we have decided to temporarily adjust the presence of our diplomatic staff in India,” he stated before explaining that Canadian representatives have been receiving threats through social networks. The Indian government, for its part, has requested the reduction of the Canadian diplomatic mission.
“We have informed the Canadian Government that there must be parity in strength and equivalence of rank in our mutual diplomatic presence, their numbers here are much higher than ours in Canada,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi said at a press conference. .
Rising tension
On Monday, September 18, Trudeau denounced that Canada’s spy services had “credible” information of an alleged involvement of the Indian authorities in the murder of Nijjar, something that sparked criticism from Nueva.
According to the newspaper El País, the Indian government “strongly” rejected the accusations and stressed its “concern” at the fact that the country’s senior officials have openly expressed “sympathy” towards such theories.
“Such baseless allegations are intended to divert attention from Khalistani terrorists and extremists, who have been sheltered in Canada and who continue to threaten the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India. The inaction of the Canadian Government has been a cause of concern for a long time,” stated the Indian authorities.
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Days ago, the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi issued a statement urging its citizens to be cautious due to “growing anti-India activities and politically tolerated hate crimes.” For his part, Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, remarked: “We informed the Canadian government that there must be parity in the diplomatic presence.”
In his speech during the press conference he noted that “their number is much higher than ours in Canada (…) I assume there will be a reduction.” New Delhi also said it had stopped processing visa applications in Canada, citing “security threats” that it said were “disrupting” the work of its officials.
“At the moment, due to the security situation in Canada and the inaction of the Canadian government, we have temporarily stopped visa services,” Bagchi stated. For its part, Canada did not specify how many diplomats will be affected, but stated that its offices remain “open” and are “operational.”
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India has for years blamed Canada for giving free rein to Sikh separatists, including Nijjar. The two expulsions of diplomats aggravated tensions: Trudeau had a cold meeting with Modi during the Group of 20 meeting held this month in New Delhi, and a few days later Canada canceled a trade mission to India scheduled for the fall.
Despite the dispute, the North American country remains one of the top study destinations for Indian students. In 2022, the country had almost 300,000 Indian students pursuing higher education there.
Conflict between Canada and India over the assassination of a Sikh leader
The death of the leader
Hardeep Singh Nijjar Nijjar, 45, was shot in front of a Sikh temple in Surrey, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, on June 18. According to witnesses, armed and masked men shot the leader on the outskirts of Vancouver.
He was also the leader of the Khalistan Tiger Force, an independence group that aspires to secession from the historic Sikh Empire in Khalistan and that had prepared attacks in the Indian province of Punjab.
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